As I mentioned in last week’s column, Lori MacMaster and her step dancing students will be holding a recital at Laggan Public School this coming Friday, May 6th. For those of you unfamiliar with this form of dance (as I was until last year), step dancing is usually performed to the accompaniment of traditional fiddle music and involves fast-paced foot work performed on a smooth surface wearing shoes with special toe and heel taps. Not to be confused with tap dancing, step dancing features flowing arm movements and aggressive steps danced high off the floor, but little or no movement across the stage.
Teaching step dancing is obviously in Lori’s blood; she started giving lessons when only 13. And while Lori’s students usually start taking her classes when they’re six or seven years of age, she also teaches adults who appreciate the aerobic workout this energetic dance form offers.
If you’d like to see the Lori MacMaster Step Dancers strut their stuff, drop by the Laggan School auditorium on Friday. The recital gets underway at 7:00 PM sharp. There’s no admission charge, but Lori and her students are raising money for the Glengarry Memorial Hospital and they hope that you’ll drop a generous donation in the jar at the door.
Quoth the raven “Nevermore.”
Lori is the daughter of René and Sherrill Trottier who live over the hill from Fiske’s Corners. When she and I were discussing the details of this year’s performance, Lori asked if I thought my readers would be interested in a short tale that her dad had related while they were seated around her kitchen table. Naturally, I said yes.
Apparently, every day of the year, her dad and his two canine companions (and the family cat if it isn’t raining or snowing) head out for a constitutional across the fields behind the Trottier’s family home. He first heads along the west fence line, north towards Highway 417. Then, at the hill, he cuts back east to return home along the farm’s eastern boundary. However, one morning this past winter René’s journey was interrupted when he spotted a raven on the ground with its foot caught in a length of baling twine that was sticking out of the snow. Exhausted from repeated attempts to escape, the bird wasn’t moving, but was obviously still alive.
René found himself in a bit of a conundrum. He had no knife on him with which to cut the cord. And didn’t want to take the time to walk all the way back to the house for fear that the bird might die in the interim. So Lori’s 82-year old father dropped to his knees and used the only tools he had at his disposal… his two thumbnails. For ten cold and uncomfortable minutes René “sawed” back and forth with his nails in an effort to sever the twine. Amazingly, as he did, the bird lay perfectly still (except for a minute or two when the cat decided to check and see if the raven had passed over to the snack side of life’s ledger). It struck her dad that the hapless bird knew that he was trying to rescue it. At long last, the cord parted and a grateful raven hopped away and took to the open skies.
What Lori’s father didn’t know at the time was that his wife, Sherrill, was watching this drama unfold from her kitchen window. But, given the distance, she wasn’t clear what was transpiring. When he dropped to his knees, the first thing that came to her mind was the possibility her husband was having a stroke or heart attack. But there was something in the way he was moving that wasn’t consistent with a medical emergency. So she held off dialing 911. And a short while later, she saw Lori’s dad getting back to his feet and walking home with the dogs and cat.
Now, Lori was very moved by this tale. Understandably. She was touched by her dad’s kindness, as was I. But I wasn’t surprised by it. René and Sherrill come from a time when the Dunvegan community prided itself on being good neighbours… even if the individual in distress was a lowly raven.
PS: A little birdie just informed me (no, not the raven) that Sherrill Trottier celebrated a milestone birthday this past weekend; and at our age, they’re all milestones. Many happy returns, Sherrill.
Calling all Bridge & Euchre players
If you like playing bridge (or euchre), enjoy partaking in a delicious lunch and are pleased to contribute to a good cause, then the Martintown Goodtimers “Bridge Luncheon” fundraiser on Saturday, May 14th is right up your alley.
Ever since 1982, the Goodtimers have been organizing special outings, regular events and activities (like this Bridge Luncheon) and an annual Summer Barbecue and Christmas Lunch for seniors and near-seniors. As the group’s web site states, their members come from all over the area. “Some have roots going back hundreds of years, and others are new to the area just looking for some fun.”
What is the Dunvegan connection to this Martintown group? My wife, Terry, and a number of her friends are members. And, this month, they will be the ones preparing the food and serving the tea and coffee at the bridge luncheon event. So I urge you to support them.
Tickets are only $10.00 per person and are available in advance by contacting Jane at 613-932-7019 or Denise at 613-361-7775… or by making a reservation on-line at the group’s web site: martintowngoodtimers.wordpress.com.
The luncheon will be held in the Martintown Community Centre, 4850 Apple Hill Road, with lunch being served at 11:30 and the card games beginning at 12:30. In addition to Duplicate Bridge organized by the Martintown Bridge Club, there will also be tables for Party Bridge and Euchre.
Goings on at the Museum
While interested parties don’t have a lot of time to jump on board, the Encore Education program and the Glengarry Pioneer Museum have teamed up to host a talk tomorrow entitled “Glengarry School Days.” Regrettably, I didn’t learn of this event until after last week’s column had gone to press. Hence the late notice. However, it sounds like a fascinating presentation and, who knows, it might not be too late to sign up.
Margaret Dalby-MacMillan will be on hand to present an overview of the evolution of basic educational ideas and teaching methods from formal education’s early beginnings in 18th century military encampments to the “discovery learning” fad that’s so in vogue these days. She will also explore the transition from home instruction to the proliferation of small, so-called “one-room” schools and their subsequent amalgamation into the regional school system of the 1960s.
I’m told Margaret will involve the audience in reenactments of early school lessons as she discusses how the educational system has developed into what exists today. It’s a chance for you to learn first-hand whether the “Three Rs” teaching systems of yesteryear were really the good old days.
Tickets for the lecture cost $10 each, and it will be held Thursday, May 5th from 10 AM to 12 noon in the Pioneer Museum’s “Big Beaver” schoolhouse. Given the short time frame, you’re probably best to call the Encore office to see if there’s space available. Their phone number is 613-525-1008. You could also visit their web site at www.glengarryencore.com.
Jennifer tells me that they had a spectacular Spring Cleaning Day with 35 volunteers helping to clean and prepare the buildings. And she and her team are now schlepping artifacts and preparing exhibits for the museum’s 2016 opening salvo on Victoria Day weekend, May 21-23. Stay tuned for more information in the next few weeks on upcoming museum events. But I did want to give you a heads up to keep Sunday, May 22nd open… especially if you enjoy a good old-fashioned Victorian Tea and/or are a bagpipes aficionado.
I’m not sure yet what the Tea Party will encompass, but I do know organizers of the bagpipe event have invited a very special guest speaker: Alan Jones from Montreal. Mr. Jones has a collection of over 300 bagpipes and 400 flutes and whistles, making his holdings one of the largest private collections anywhere. Mr. Jones will share his knowledge of Celtic music and even play a tune or two on some of the instruments he brings.
Stand by to be counted
While I’m told that the blogosphere and social media sites are awash with the news, for old fogies like me the upcoming Canadian Census hasn’t appeared on my radar even once. In fact, if one of my old friends hadn’t signed on to be a census taker, or “enumerator” as they are called, it might have escaped my notice entirely.
I’m told that next Tuesday, May 10th is Census Day in Canada. And between then and now, the vast army of enumerators is supposed to visit each and every household to drop off a census form, and take note of some rudimentary address and domicile data in the process.
To quote from the Statistics Canada web site: “By law, your household must complete a Census of Population questionnaire. Under the Statistics Act, agricultural operators are required to complete the Census of Agriculture. Your answers are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act and will be kept strictly confidential.”
So if someone wanders up your lane bearing gifts of government red tape, don’t sic the dog on them. Instead, welcome them with open arms; they’re only doing their job.
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